Valve for animal feeders



Ju1y25, 1933. E, D ElNsEL Er AL 1,919,587 l VALVE FOR ANIMAL FEEDERS Filed Aug. 4, 1931 the feed can not bev wasted. f l

Patented July 25, 1933 Y' l RLMRR n. Rinsntnnn Niets c. NELSON, or' nnsrnves, NRRRAsRA-"Assrenons 1ro THE Res'rrnesneurrvenain BINMANURAGTURHIG company, 'A CORPORATION or NEBRASKA .Y vALvR ROR Anni/IAL FRDERS Application filed Aug-ast e, 193.1. 'serial-No. 555,090.7. i

.Our Hinvention relates to animal feeders.

"` from the feeder. Y

The primaryobject ofthefinventionis the provision of a novel formof valve for controlling the ra-te'of How of the feedso that Anotherobject of the invention is the provision of easily adjustable-means yfor increasing or decreasingv the size of the vertical Opening through which the feed'must pass in order to be accessible to the animals. Y

Another object of the invention is the proj vision of a yieldable 'latch of simple con? struction forholding the valve in a'nyx'of its adjusted positions so that the hogs can not e. lift the valve by thrusting their snouts up-A 0 wardly ,against the lower edge ofthe'valve. Another vobject of the invention is the provision of guideways for controlling the movements of 'the valve so that'the'valve can not swing -in a transverse direction.

.25 Anotherobject'of the invention is the pro'-` vision of a shield which lwill prevent the passage of. finely ground feed in front ofthe valve.1 l *l Anothery object of the invention is the 39 provision of avalv'ejin such relation jto'a shield. that the resistance to the' opening movement of the valve Vis increasedas the valve `is being opened. v 4 .Y

' Having 1n view these objects and others- .L which willbepointedout in the following description, we willnorw` referv to the drawing7 in which n Figurelis a view in-perspectiveof the hog'feedei"1 the feed doors being omitted and 0 parts beingv broken away to disclose interior structure.` f v 'Figure 2 -ifs afragmentary view infperspective` of a` portion' of the valve in its relationlto other partsof the feeder7 a part being'broken away to disclose'the wing nut whichcontrols thelatch.

`Figure 3 `is a sectional view of the two latchingmembersV in their latching relation;

The hog feeder has sidewalls 10 and end l walls llarranged in rectangular form. The

middle portion ofthe bottom is in thek form i of an vinverted U, therebeing two velongated latportions directly underfthe lower edges of thefside walls .10 andspaced` therefrom;

1 The outer portions of the bottom project .upf wardly and outwardly as shown in lFigure- 1.

The space betweenthelower edges of .the

'side walls 10 and the outeredges of the bot-..

tom is thusopen sov that the hogscanreach the food within vthe container. 'The opening` at eachside of the feeder slopes'downwardly and outwardly .and it is strongly reinforced at'itsedges towithstandthe rough usage tov i which it is put bythe animals. The opening 12 1s provided with a plurality Of'- hinged coversrfor protecting the contents ofthe covers being'hinged so that the hogs Vmay feeder from theaction of wind and rain, the Y lift them withtheirrsnouts asin rooting.

Since these covers constitute 4no `part of the present invention and since theyare well known-intheirgeneric form, illustrationV is ly believed to be unnecessary. The receptacle is further provided with a' hinged roof 13 of inverted V 'form' and hinged 'at'oneof its edgest'o onerofthe sidewallslO at upper edge. The roof may readily be opened and closed whenit is desired to gain access to the interior of the receptacle either for refillingA the receptacle or for readjustingfthe valves..

lsoV

When theY cover 13 is in its closed positionity eifectually preventsfthe entrance 'of' windl andrain to the receptacle.

The foodv in thef Vreceptacle mustv Vpass through thexthroat formed by vthe lower edge of a side wall 10V andlalat portion of the floor.` This throatfis best seen at v14C in ure 2. The feeder .is designed-', howeven for feeding any V*suitable hog feed to the hogs. I

This might consist of a suitable bran mash or ofany ofvarious grains.' Thebran mash i isa relativelyf'slowflowingfmass while thev grains are more. Qrfle'ss fluent;` this, being particularly vtrueof those grains which have hard or polished coats. It is. therefore. ob V vious that "a throat `opening vof. the vproper size forfone food'mightvbeytoo `large or too f small for'fakliiferent kind of food." This necessitates .the use of ya valve 15`wh1chj1s adjustable. for enlarging orv reducing the size The strap 19, is secured at its of the throat. This valve is bent over at its upper edge at 16 for strengtheningpurposes and its lower edge portion is bent inwardly at 17 at right angles to the body portion.`

beside resulting inthe wastage of consider- Y able quantities of feed. lfVe have therefore provided -a shield 20 which is rigidlysecured to the side wall 10 as shown in Figures 1 and 2. The shield 2O is secured at only its upper.` edge but the securing .means must be of such a nature that little or no finely ground feed may pass through between Vthe upper edge of the shield 20 andthe side wall 10.V The shield'may be secured tothe side wall by means of rivets or by spotrv welding or seam welding.r The shield 20 hangs down overv the upper portion of the valve15. V7 .Wl

Since the parts are all made of sheet inet-al `they are more or Y less resilient. As 'the valvel is moved upwardly it becomesV more .and more tightly wedged inthe space between the'shield 20 and the side wall l10 and the re'sistanceto furtherup'ward move'- ment increases rapidly' as the upper limit of movement of the valvef`15 is reached. This is particularly important because of the-propensity vof hogs to root in the VfeedV and to'L attempt to force the valve 15 upwardly.` c

lower extremity to the valve`15.Y` It Vpasses from thence upwardly and, over the shield 20,

.beingprovided with a finger grip 18 at Yits upper extremity." It is further guided in its movement by ineansofa transverse strap 21 which is secured at its extremities to the side wall 10.- The fastening device 22 at one extremity of the strap 21 may be a permanent-'fastening device such as a rivetor it` mayV bex r inthe form of a holt@ Atk the..

oppositeextremity, however, is a fastening device 23 which is purposely made releasable by means of a wing nut-211'; or other suitable releasable fastening device. 1Th`e 'strap 19 is provided with a vertical series of apertures 25 which cooperate with a protuberance 26V Von the Strap 21, the protuberance 26l being Vformed as shown infFigure 3. Theseating of the protuberance 26'in one of the apertures 25 constitutesV a latchk against the up or down movement of the valve15 and `it preventsthe hogs from further opening thev valve 15. In order to adjust the size of the opening it is necessary to first release the thumb nut 24 and then to raise or lower the valve 15 by grasping the handle portion 18 of the strap 19. When the valve 15 has been adjusted Aasdesired the wing n-ut .24 must be tightened .on the `bolt 23 in order to firmly seat the protubeiance- 26 in an aperture 25.

Themovementof the valve 15 is strictly in an up anddown direction. Hogs-vare,

however, rough animals especially when they are feeding and they tend to press against the outer surfaces of the valves 15 with their snouts and to thus damage the valves by bending the material.v In order to lobviat'e thiswe have provided guideways 27 secured to lthe end walls -11 of the feeder andof such afwidth that the valves 15 can slide'ugp andA down lfreelyjwitliin the guide,- ways. i f f i y In use the-'receptacle is'filledwiththe feed. When this is bran mash very little the feed, and in factvpract/ically noneofi-t, will be in the troughs 12. In this case the hogsreach inunder thevalve 15 to loosen the Vbran mash which becomes lodged there. If qthe feed is grain, either .unground or coarsely ground, it will naturallyy flow from the receptacle through the throat underneath :the valvel' and into the troughs 12., vThe animals can then'freach the feed which becomes automatically replaced from therecept'acle as it .is .being consumed .from the troughs, thisl being due to the Vnatural flow' of such feeds. The present feeder has been :designed initially andprimarily as a hog feeder.v `Certain features .and ,especially the valve, would be equallyiuseful in any other kind 'of an animal feeder having an adjustable throat andv we therefore vwish to'reserve to ourselves all rights to any and all uses to which our claimed structure may be put. v

Having thus described our invention in Vsuch full, clear, and exact terms that its construction and operationwill be readily understood by others skilled inthe art'to which it pertains', what we claim as new and desire to secure by VLetters Patentof the United States is:

1. An animal' `feeder `'including 'an Vopen V-top receptaclev and a, feed trough with a throat therebetween for Vj iassdage ofthe feed froinsaid receptacle to saidjtrough, a -valve f or expanding for Vconstrifctingsaid throat, a shield of resilient materialsecured at 'its upperedge to a wall of said; receptacle, the upper portion of vsaid vvalve `being slidably positioned between said'resilient shield and the/wall of said receptacle, and a strap secured to said valve belowthe lower edge of said shield and projecting upwardly for manual operation through the. open top of said receptacle to raisev or lower said valve. 2. An .animal feeder including lopen top receptacle and a feed trough and having a throat therebetween, a resilient shield secured at its upper edge to a wall of'said receptacle and above said throat7 ka Valve slidalole vertically between said shield and -the wall of said receptacle for expanding t open top of said receptacle to raisevor lower said valve, and clamping means secured to the wall of said receptacle for` releasably engaging said strap to hold said valve in adjusted position.

3. An animal feeder-'including` an open top receptacle and a feed 'trough withi aKV throat therebetween for the passage of thev feed lfrom said receptacletol said trough, al valve for expanding or constricting said throat, a shield of resilient material secured atits upper edge to a wall of said receptacle, the uppervedge ofsaid Valvebeing in` double thickness and being positioned between said rresilient shieldand the'wall of saidfreCeptaCle, and a strap secured to said valvebelow the" lower edge of said shield and. projecting upwardly for manual operation through the open top of said receptacle to raise or lower said valve. f

ELMER D. ErNsELQ 1 NELs c. manson.L 

